- Asked by: Robert Brown, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Monday, 22 November 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 1 December 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive whether communities of interest and non-governmental organisations will have greater access to justice as required by the broad access to justice requirements of the Aarhus Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters when it replaces the current tests of title and interest with a single and simpler test of sufficient interest, as stated in its response to the Report of the Scottish Civil Courts Review.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer to the question S3W-37745 on 1 December 2010. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at
http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.
- Asked by: Robert Brown, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Monday, 22 November 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 1 December 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers protective cost orders to be sufficient to meet the requirements of access to justice without prohibitive cost in environmental matters as set out in the Aarhus Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters.
Answer
The Scottish Government considers that the justice system in Scotland, including protective expenses orders, meets the requirements of the Aarhus Convention.
- Asked by: Robert Brown, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Monday, 22 November 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 1 December 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will take account of the legal system of England and Wales and the Aarhus Compliance Committee’s recent ruling in relation to non-compliance with the Aarhus Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters when implementing the reforms outlined in paragraphs 168 to 175 of its response to the Report of the Scottish Civil Courts Review.
Answer
The Scottish Government does intend to take these matters into consideration. Such matters, both from England and Wales and further afield, are routinely considered when developing Scottish solutions, even when not directly applicable to Scotland.
- Asked by: Robert Brown, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 November 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 22 November 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive how many hours per day on average prisoners carry out (a) work and (b) training or education, broken down by (i) length of sentence and (ii) prison.
Answer
I have asked John Ewing, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows:
This information is not available in the format required.
- Asked by: Robert Brown, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Friday, 22 October 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by Keith Brown on 19 November 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made since it agreed to undertake a review of the school clothing grant system in 2007.
Answer
A short life working group was established in 2008 to undertake a review of both free school meal and school clothing grant provision across Scotland. The working group comprised a partnership involving the Scottish Government, COSLA and The Third Sector. The group produced a final report which is being considered by Ministers.
- Asked by: Robert Brown, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 November 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 17 November 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive what kind of work opportunities are available in Scottish Prison Service Industries production workshops.
Answer
I have asked John Ewing, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows:
Industries production workshops exist at Peterhead, Perth, Shotts, Glenochil, Barlinnie and Greenock. Work opportunities range from cutting, sewing and assembly of fabric components, cutting, machining and assembly of timber components, to cutting, machining, welding and assembly of metal products. There are also opportunities for ancilliary operations such as workshop housekeeping tasks and machine maintenance. Where possible, prisoners are provided with the opportunity to develop vocational skills leading to certification as part of their work activity.
- Asked by: Robert Brown, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 November 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 17 November 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive whether Scottish Prison Service Industries products are manufactured in all prisons.
Answer
I have asked John Ewing, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows:
Six prisons currently manufacture Scottish Prison Industries products including Peterhead, Perth, Shotts, Glenochil, Barlinnie and Greenock.
- Asked by: Robert Brown, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 November 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 17 November 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive how many prisoners have worked in Scottish Prison Service Industries production workshops in the last year.
Answer
I have asked John Ewing, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. His response is as follows:
The number of daily work places currently available in the SPS Industries production workshops is 426. The breakdown by establishment is as follows:
Peterhead: Textiles - 30
Timber - 24
Perth: Textiles - 12
Timber - 80
Shotts: Textiles - 23
Timber - 70
Engineering - 25
Glenochil: Timber - 45
Engineering - 45
Barlinnie: Timber - 50
Greenock: Timber - 22
These numbers represent available work spaces at each location and it should be noted that some establishments timetable prisoners to attend in the morning and afternoons separately to maximise attendance.
SPS records hours of activity against all purposeful activities and in the period 1 April 2010 to 31 October 2010, there were 246,351 hours of activity recorded in SPS Industries workshops. This hourly figure represents 83,287 individual attendances by prisoners over this period. This equates to an average daily attendance at work industries placements of 462 prisoners per day, 36 prisoners over the stated capacity of industries places listed.
- Asked by: Robert Brown, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 November 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 17 November 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive what the income of Scottish Prison Service Industries has been in the last year; what the cost of production has been, and how the money has been used.
Answer
I have asked John Ewing, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows:
The cost of production of Prison Industries products for the Financial Year 2009-10 was £1,041,187 which generated General Revenue Income of £1,269,941.
By way of comparison, the cost of production of Prison Industries products for the Financial Year 2010 to date (period of seven months) is £619,557 which has generated General Revenue Income of £762,074 to date.
It should be noted that the primary purpose of prison industries is not to generate income but to provide work opportunities and to develop skill sets for prisoners across a range of activities that may lead to vocational training qualifications.
- Asked by: Robert Brown, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 November 2010
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Current Status:
Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 17 November 2010
To ask the Scottish Executive what the cost has been of advocates appearing in the sheriff courts in (a) criminal, (b) civil and (c) children’s cases in the last year.
Answer
In relation to publicly funded legal assistance, the responsibility for administering payments to advocates and solicitors for legal aid work lies with the Scottish Legal Aid Board. It is not possible to restrict the payment information to appearance work only. The following sums therefore include all work undertaken by counsel in legal aid sheriff court proceedings including court appearances, and for example, waiting time, written work, travel fees and outlays.
| Civil | Criminal | Children''s | Total |
| £2,410,000 | £1,570,000 | £977,000 | £4,957,000 |
| 48.6% | 31.7% | 19.7% | 100% |
Based on financial year 2009-10. All figures inclusive of VAT.
The criminal payments outlined above include sums paid to counsel in respect of bail appeals in the High Court, but which arise from the substantive sheriff court proceedings.
